Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up on the oft-forgotten Eastern Shore of Virginia. If you’ve ever read the book “Misty of Chincoteague” by Marguerite Henry, I was born 45 minutes south of the island where that book is set. I am currently a practicing veterinarian on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (same peninsula, different state) who writes fantasy as a hobby. I wrote the majority of my first book while attending veterinary school at St. George’s University in Grenada, West Indies, and completed it recently. As of today, I only have my debut novel, “The Dragon’s Rising”, but I have two that I am working on which occur in the same universe.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel is called “The Dragon’s Rising.” The original inspiration for the book came from a doodle which I drew on the back of an outline for a writing assignment in seventh grade: a longsword with a hilt in the shape of a black dragon. From there, I developed the idea of gathering together weapons of power. The main character, Falkier, and a secondary character, Swagin, both originated from my VERY rough first attempt to write a novel in middle school. I had many false-starts through high school and college before I actually committed to writing the novel that is now “The Dragon’s Rising”.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure how unusual it is, but I tend to try to put Easter eggs in my writing in the form of references to other works of fiction, like short stories and musicals. It doesn’t affect the story and is, for the most part, just to amuse and challenge myself to slip in a reference that isn’t distracting to the reader.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
As should be no surprise, most of my influences are more well-known fantasy writers. Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series was a favorite of mine in middle school and high school, and the Aes Sedai from those books influenced the Planesweavers in my book, as well as events which will occur in upcoming books that I don’t want to spoil. Christopher Paolini’s release of “Eragon” at age 19 inspired me to try to write my novel young but considering I’m only just releasing my first novel at 28 (the age Paolini was when the LAST book of his Inheritance Cycle series was published) I clearly didn’t finish in as timely a manner.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on two books in the same series as “The Dragon’s Rising”. One is the sequel to the book, which I am tentatively calling “The Dragon’s Flight” and the other is a novella I haven’t named yet which will follow the events that lead up to the mercenaries Jofalk and Swagin meeting Falkier early in “The Dragon’s Rising”. The novella is planned to show how the two mercenaries work as a team and elaborate on how they came to possess a valuable piece of loot.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Considering I’m only just now promoting my first book, I cannot be certain yet. I am hoping that creating channels by which people who enjoy my writing can contact me on Facebook or Goodreads will allow me to reach a wider audience. I am also trying to promote myself through doing a few questionnaire interviews like this one, which is a weird feeling for me since I really try not to impose myself on others.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
A guy with one book under his belt probably isn’t going to give the most sage advice, but my recommendations for others would be to write the story that comes to you and share it with someone who you think will appreciate it. In the dedication of “The Dragon’s Rising”, I recognize Toot, who was a groomer at the veterinary clinic where I worked from high school through veterinary school. After I shared my writing with her, she would talk with me during breaks about my story and her enthusiasm about it really got my creative juices flowing and allowed me to write roughly the first third of the novel over a single summer. The other person in the dedication, Claire, is my current significant other and she served a similar purpose in encouraging me to finish.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best writing advice I ever received was from Melanie Jo Moore. She’s a veterinary technician at the same animal hospital as Toot as well as the indie author of the memoirs “Letters to Young Chong”, “Tomato Stakes”, and “Mosquito Fog”. Once I tried to pick her brain about writing, she told me that the hardest part is just starting to put words on paper.
What are you reading now?
At this second, I am reading Naomi Novik’s “Temeraire” series and waiting on the next volumes of Brandon Sanderson’s “Stormlight Archives”, Sebastien de Castell’s “Spellslinger”, and Brent Week’s “Lightbringer” series.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Right now, the only goal I have for my writing is to finish out the trilogy that I’ve decided to write and break-even financially. If people really enjoy my story, then that’ll be the icing on the cake for me.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
If someone was nice enough to give me a choice of reading material before marooning me, my first choice would be a military survival guide to teach me how to survive. After that, I would want to have “Remembrance of Things Past” by Marcel Proust since it’s the longest book in the world and so would provide me with either many hours of reading material or a large supply of kindling to start a fire. After that, for pleasure reading, I would want a short story anthology so that I can have a varied reading experience.
Author Websites and Profiles
Nathan Ayersman Amazon Profile
Nathan Ayersman’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile